'87 GL-10 Turbo! Wow.... Some q's

[MoscowSubaruDude]

Well... I am now in possession of an 87 GL-10 turbo wagon. 218k miles exactly 2 miles after I bought it, quite nice. Has the 5mtSR... need to change that. Disgustingly fast, as I'm quite used to my EA81 beaters, so this is quite a turn. Have a few questions for anyone who has answers, some things that need to be addressed in order to make it fully servicable. The body is impeccable, very little rust, and only one patch that I need to take care of. No dents, very few dings, etc. The sunroof has come off the track, so if I can't fix it, I'll just take the glass out for the summer, put it back in for the winter. Ok, here's the q's.

 

1. Smoke coming off the turbo after a hard run. Is this normal? Never dealt with a turbo motor, all I know is to stay on top of it, oil/coolant wise, and that's all gravy. After about half an hour of full throttle running (aka total disregard for speed limits) around the city, there is a bit of wispy smoke coming from the general direction of the turbo. I would assume this is normal, but just wished to check.

 

2. The front passenger side has a problem. At least I think its just the passenger side. Might be both, or something else entirely. Basic symptoms involve a lot of toe-in when I hit the gas in gear, and a lot of toe-out when I let off/brake. It's bad, almost undriveable. I have to stay on top of it, and time my steering wheel jerking to coincide with my acceleration, or lack thereof, otherwise I'll wind up in the ditch. Now, the dude I bought it from said that a buddy of his diagnosed it as a fubar'd/broken motor/tranny mount. That said, I don't think so. I'd think that if the mounts were busted, the engine would move horribly under revving, even in the driveway... and it doesn't. The other thing I'm thinking of is the trailing arm dealie, goes from the control arm to under the passenger seat. The bushing on that may be worn, which is what I think is causing it. If so, will an EA81 bushing fit in that position? I've got a spare or three for my older wagon, I could just throw it in there and move on with life. I can't think of anything else it could be. Only other symptom I can think of is that when it's on the ground (got my jack stolen, haven't gotten it off the ground yet) and I kick/punch/bang on the tire with a hammer, there is a metal-on-metal banging noise... can't figure out for the life of me where it's coming from. I intend to jack it all up and loosen, then tighten every single bolt under there.

 

3. How do you align one of these things? In relation to the above question, I'd like to do a backyard alignment, aka measuring tape and some patience. Unfortunately, I don't see anything on the steering rack that could be used to align the damn thing. Any thoughts? I haven't measured toe yet, so it may still be aligned, but I'll check either way.

 

4. RX trannies. They're 3.7, right? If so... I'd really love to lay hands on one. I'd like to keep this rig with the stock gearing, I'm primarily going to use it as a street car, go the 4wd rally route with it, rather than mudding it. I haven't the foggiest idea how common RX trannies are, but if someone has one just layin around, I'll be looking for one in 2-4 months, in time for winter.

 

5. The digi-dash is way retarded. Everything works beautifully, loving it, except the damn speedo. It'll jump all over the place when I'm driving, going from reading, at an actual speed of 60 mph, 3, 79, 103, 34, 85, etc... I can tell how fast I'm going, because during the cycling, it will eventually read the right speed, and it's the only one even close to the speed I'm going... however, if there's a way to fix this, it'd make my life easier... Any thoughts? I was thinking perhaps the sending unit is fubar'd. Also, during driving, there is a rythmic clicking noise, just over 1 click per second, coming from behind the instrument cluster. Not very loud, it's drowned out by my engine noise, and it's not a heavy clicking, I can't feel it, but I wonder if that's somehow related to the retardedness?

 

6. Will wagon wheels off an EA81 fit on one of these rigs? Just wondering, have the set from the other roo, thinkin about usin the M/S's on this car...

 

 

That's all I can think of for now... thanks all. I'll play with the motor later, after I have everything else peachy.

[Turbone]

I have a 86 GL-10 T-Wagon going on 4yrs now, love it. Haul more stuff in it than my Brat. Well, almost.

1. Sounds like the oil supply line or return line might be leaking. Try and tighten, dont want these blowing out. Also check the cv joint down below. If the boot is torn, it could be throwing grease onto the turbo.

2. You need to get the car off the ground in order to check the suspension and other related stuff. Check the axle nut, make sure its tight.

3. Alignment is done by adjusting the tie rod ends. I never try and mess with unless something is really fubared and I need to drive it. Take it to a shop and have it put on the machine to have it done right.

4.Theres a couple of different RX trannies. I think the 85/86 is just a D/R with locking diff, the later ones are full time with D/R and locking diff, and single range also. I'm to lazy right now to be sure tho.

5. Check the speedo cable down at the tranny, it might be loose or dirty. If not, pull on the end of the cable gently. If it starts to come out easily it might be broken. The clicking you hear is the odo sticking. Mine does it when it hits every 10,000mi.

6. EA81 wagon wheels will not fit your car. It will bind on the front brake calipers.

[daeron]

is it possible that your just feeling the effects of torque steer, from a much more powerful motor than you are used to? because i have a sluchbox (a/t) it took me a long time to realize that was torque steer that jerked my car around that little bit... i had just never thought of it, until i read so many comments about torque steer in the "you know youre a soob owner if..." post... and i was like, Yah, no duh, its a TINY bit of torque steer!! .. so maybe, youre used to a TINY bit, and now youve got oodles??? just a thought... i know it sounds dumb, but the dumb non-probelmatic possibilities are often overlooked while troubleshooting.. i know its one of the thousands of ways i personally enjoy making my own life that much more difficult than it has to be... :banghead:

[idosubaru]

for the suspension i'd look at the ball joint and tie rods.

 

steering rack boots can cause quite a bit of drift while driving and also need more response than normal to get it to turn. very easy to repalce as well.

[MoscowSubaruDude]

Sweet... thanks for the suggestions...

 

I will say one thing... torque steer... no way. This is way too severe, and way too sensitive, for it to be torque steer. I've had cars with FWD, and the same or more power, and it tracked straight. Here, I barely tap the gas, or let off it just a hair, and I'm swerving hell to breakfast all over the road. Not good on the freeway between two trucks. And yes the CV boot is ripped a bit, just did it, so I'm just gonna grab my reboot kit and redo the boots on that axle.

 

Also, as far as checking the ball joints and tie rods, what's considered an acceptable amount of play? Gonna borrow my buddies jack in the morning, it'll be daylight in 2-3 hours, so I've got all day to play with the car.

 

Also, I will be checking the axle nuts, I had an 83 GL FWD that had a problem with eating the cone washer in there... always was loose, displayed the exact same behaviour... however on that one, I could tighten it a turn with my hand after an hour of highway driving... this one is tight, so I'll check both.

 

Thanks for the help, I'll keep it posted.